Obituary of Richard Leighton Ashmun

Mount Pleasant, Richard Leighton Ashmun , BTCS, Ret., age 77 of Mount Pleasant, PA, died Monday (06/10/13) at his home. Mr. Ashmun was born October 17, 1935 in Tampa, FL, the son of the late Richard John and Ellen Louise Jefferson Ashmun. He was a member of St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, Mt. Pleasant. Mr. Ashmun joined the Navy in November 11, 1952 and served for over 21 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring in February 1, 1974 as a Senior Chief Petty Officer (Boilerman). During his career he was awarded the Navy Meritorious Commendation, Navy Good Conduct Medal w/ 2 clusters, Vietnam Service Medal w/ 2 clusters, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Cuban Crisis), Navy Occupation Medal w/ European Clasp, National Defense Service Medal w/ cluster and Cold War Certificate. He served on various types of ships around the world, including the Commissioning crew for the USS Jonas Ingram DD 938 at Boston, MA, and the USS Constellation CVA 64 at New York, NY. He taught swimming and water survival to the cadets going through flight training at Pensacola, FL. He was also a Recruiter in Charge at the Navy Recruiting Station, Greensburg, PA from 1969 to 1972. Mr. Ashmun attended Westmoreland County Community College and received an Associate Degree in Business Management and Fire Safety in 1982. From 1974 to 1995 he worked as a Loss Control Consultant in Engineering for several Insurance companies. Prior to his retirement in 2001 he was a Building Safety Inspector for the PA Dept. of Labor and Industry. Mr. Ashmun was a Life member of American Legion Post # 446, VFW Post # 3360, the Slovak-American Sportsman Club of Hecla, Moose Lodge # 1151, Greensburg and the Pennsylvania Mayflower Society. Mr. Ashmun was also a Life member of the National Society, PA Society and the General Arthur St. Clair Chapter, Greensburg, National Sons of the American Revolution,. He held various positions in the organization including National Vice President, General for the Mid Atlantic District, National Trustee, National Vice Chairman of the ROTC/JROTC Committee, PA State President and PA State Genealogist & Chapter President, and served on many other committees Richard is survived by his wife, Rosalind Leah Dolan Ashmun, whom he married on December 28, 1963, and by his 5 children: Gloria Jean Kowalsky and her husband Ronald of Greensburg, Richard L. Ashmun, Jr..and his wife Cathy of Roanoke, VA., Mary Margaret Brown and her husband David, of Banning, Martha Louise Cunningham, of Burgettstown and Heath Michael Ashmun and his wife Kristen of LaBelle. He will be sadly missed by his grandchildren : Jeremy & Stephen Sikora of Greensburg, Sarah Appel and her husband Brian, of Augusta,GA, Stephanie Ashmun, of Monroe, GA, Rebecca and Caitlin Ashmun, of Jefferson, GA, Donald Haney and his wife Jessie, of Greensburg, David Brown and his wife Shay, of Charleroi, Michael Brown, of Banning, Valerie Gibson and her husband Russell of Pearsall, TX, JD Cunningham of McDonald, Joshua Cunningham and his wife Vanessa of Sturgeon, Jonathan Cunningham of Burgettstown and Lauren & Katharine Ashmun of Robinson Township, and by is 5 great grandchildren, Avery Appel, Zachary Wolford, Rhylee Ashmun, Christopher Cunningham and Colton Brown. Richard is also survived by his sister, Louise Ellen Ward of New Bern, NC, Sister in law, Mary Sue Hoke and her husband Ray and Brother in law, William Dolan and his wife Virginia, all of Mt. Pleasant, Sisters in law, Delores Ashmun of St. Petersburg, FL and Audrey Milan of Leighton, PA, and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, Richard was preceeded in death by his brothers, Robert Charles Ashmun, Thomas Cornelius Milan and William Joseph Milan, and by his grandson, Christopher Leighton Cunningham. .Family and friends will be received Tuesday from 7 to 9 PM and Wednesday from 2 to 4 & 6 to 9 PM at the Galone-Caruso Funeral Home, 204 Eagle Street, Mount Pleasant. A prayer service will be held Thursday at 1:00PM in the funeral home followed by his 1:30 PM Funeral Mass in St. Pius X RC Church, Mount Pleasant, with the Rev. Dennis A. Bogusz as celebrant. Interment with full military rites accorded by the American Legion Post 446, and the V.F.W. Post 3368, will be in the St. Pius X Parish Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant. A Parish wake service will be held in the funeral home Wednesday @3PM. To offer an online condolence, please visit our web site at: www.galone-carusofuneralhome.com